Hello and welcome to Issue 041 of Clearing The Bases, an email newsletter in conjunction with the My Baseball History podcast hosted by Dan Wallach.
The latest episode of the podcast with JOSH RAWITCH went live on Wednesday, June 11, so if you haven’t had a chance to listen to that yet, please make sure you do. Josh is the President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. We talk about his long career working in baseball before coming to the Hall of Fame, his world travels, and his incredible job. Josh gives us some great insight about the inner workings of the Hall, and tells us what it’s like to get to talk to Hall of Famers every single day.
I’ve gotten lots of great feedback about the episode, and a number of longtime listeners have personally reached out to tell me it’s their favorite in the four-season history of the podcast. Some of those listeners have been able to tell me that in person because this week, I am in Texas with my mom for the 53rd SABR Convention. The Society for American Baseball Research was actually founded in Cooperstown on August 10, 1971 at a meeting of 16 "statistorians," coordinated by sportswriter Bob Davids. Nearly 55 years later, the organization now reports a membership of over 7,500 baseball fans worldwide.
This is the third SABR Convention I’ve attended, but I have been going to SABR events since 2018. Some of my closest friends have been made through SABR, including JACOB POMRENKE, who was our guest for Episode 1 of Season 3 of the show. Jacob is the Director of Editorial Content at the Society For American Baseball Research, and the chairman of the Black Sox Scandal Research Committee. During our interview, we talked a lot about what, exactly, SABR is, and then we did a deep dive into the Black Sox Scandal, leaning heavily on the groundbreaking research SABR published in 2019 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 World Series, titled EIGHT MYTHS OUT.
As SABR explains, a lot of new information has been uncovered in recent years that has changed our collective knowledge of the Black Sox Scandal and its aftermath. All of these new pieces to the puzzle have provided definitive answers to some old mysteries and raised other questions in their place. The Black Sox Scandal is a story that continues to fascinate baseball fans, writers, and researchers all over the world. It continues to be a relevant part of the sports world in the 21st century, especially as Major League Baseball begins to open its doors to legalized betting 100 years later.
More than one hundred years after the 1919 World Series, we’re still learning more every day about what happened on and off the field. Jacob and I spoke at length about a number of the things we have learned which have thoroughly debunked a lot of the information we thought we knew as “fact” after movies and books like Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams. If you have even a passing interest in the Black Sox Scandal, I promise that you’re going to learn more from Jacob’s episode than you ever thought you could.
My mom and I made a road trip out of getting to Texas for the convention this year. We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas to see some Civil Rights-related sites, and once we got to Irving, we made the short trip to Fort Worth to see the hotel where JFK gave his final speech on the morning of his assassination in Dallas in 1963. The SABR Convention is currently happening (I’m sitting in the Exhibitors Room listening to Allison Levin talk as I type this), but when the convention ends on Sunday, my road trip continues. My mom and I will stop in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Commerce, Oklahoma. Then, it’s on to Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, then Evansville, Indiana, then Louisville, Kentucky, and finally Dayton, Ohio before getting back home.
Last night, a bunch of the convention attendees went to the Frisco Rough Riders game against the Tulsa Drillers at Riders Field. Tonight, we’ll be making the trip to Globe Life Field in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play the Seattle Mariners. It will be my first time at the new park, which always feels good to be able to say.
After we all got back from the minor league game last night, about 75 of us met up on the first floor to have Baseball Card “Pack Rip” night, hosted by Jason Schwartz of the SABR Baseball Card Committee. Jason never ceases to amaze me with his knowledge of and enthusiasm for cards, but what makes him such a favorite is his kindness and generosity. Pack Rip night has very quickly become the favorite event for many of us at these conventions, and if you plan on attending next year, I highly suggest you carve time out of your schedule to be there.
You will definitely hear more about this road trip and the convention in future newsletters and on future episodes of the podcast, but I’m going to keep this one short so I can get back to recording the presentations. If you’re reading this and you’re also currently at the convention, make sure you come see me in the Oak Ballroom this week, where I have a table set up to sell some books, vinyl records, baseball cards, and more. I came here with the intent of clearing up some space on my shelves back home, but as many books as I’ve sold so far, I’ve picked up nearly that many from the other vendors here to bring back home with me.
I’m looking forward to learning more about Pete Hill, Wendell Smith, and Walter O’Malley. And it’s always fun to see what new information is out there about people I already feel like I know a decent bit about, like Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, and Christy Mathewson. Oh! I also have t-shirts available if you’re a fan of the show and want to show your friends and family how smart you are for supporting it, and those will be available to newsletter subscribers when I get back if you want to order one. Just shoot me an email with the size you’re looking for and we’ll get one out to you when I get home.
Don’t forget, it’s a huge help when you Rate and Review the podcast on whatever platform you choose to listen. 5-Star ratings help our podcast get shown on more people’s suggested podcast pages, which means more people will hear our show. It just takes a couple seconds of your time, but it really helps us a lot. And of course, liking us on social media, interacting with our posts, and sharing things with your friends is great, too. Feel free to forward this email to anyone in your life who loves baseball, and hopefully they’ll enjoy the podcast and learn a thing or two. But no matter how you choose to support us, even if it’s just by listening, we appreciate you being here.
Until next time, I’m Dan Wallach, and this is My Baseball History.
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